Toledo Mud Hens 8, Columbus Clippers 2 (box)
The offense was the story in this one, as the Hens scored early and often, building an insurmountable lead by the fifth inning and cruising to their fourth victory of the year. 2B Yariel Gonzalez kicked things off with a two-run double to center to score Renato Nuñez and Aderlin Rodriguez in the second inning. Daz Cameron was back off the IL tonight and he made his presence felt with an RBI single the opposite way to score Juan Centeno in the third. After Victor Reyes walked and Isaac Paredes flew out, Nuñez came through with a single to score Cameron and make it 4-0 after three frames.
In the fifth, starter Wily Peralta leaked his only run allowed, but it was of the unearned variety as Cameron misplayed a ball in center field, allowing Bradley Zimmer to score and get Columbus off the schneid. The Hens came right back in the bottom half of the inning to drop a four-spot on them. Reyes was hit by a pitch and Paredes walked to start things off. Reyes then stole third and scored on another Nuñez single. The big blow came three batters later as Gonzalez homered to left to make it 8-1, and that was that.
Cameron had a single and a double in his return to action. Reyes added two singles, a walk, and a stolen base to the winning effort, while Gonzalez and Nuñez each had two hit games and accounted for all but one of the RBI for the Hens on the night.
Coming Up Next: The Hens and Clippers will get back at in on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. ET as the homestand continues through the weekend.
Erie SeaWolves 5, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 4 (box)
The SeaWolves were on the verge of losing a very winnable game until Riley Greene stepped to the dish in the bottom of the ninth and delivered a walkoff single.
A.J. Ladwig got the start, and managed contact well enough to go 5 2⁄3 innings with three runs allowed, despite only two strikeouts. Unfortunately, the two runs he allowed in the sixth gave the Ponies a lead heading into the late innings.
The SeaWolves got on the board in the third, with a triple by John Valente setting up a Riley Greene grounder up the middle for an RBI single, foreshadowing how this one would end. After Ladwig turned over a lead, the SeaWolves fought back in the seventh. They loaded the bases on an error and two walks, and guess who stepped to the dish? That’s right, young Mr. Greene again came through with a two-run single to right field that tied the game at 3-3. Reliever Joe Navilhon allowed a run in the eighth, but that only set up more heroics. Jack Kenley came up with a one-out single, and moved to third on a Valente double. Greene slapped a grounder up the middle and beat the through as both Kenley and Valente came around third to score. Greene went 3-for-5 on the night with five RBI. Pretty good.
Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves send Ricardo Pinto (0-1, 6.23 ERA) to the bump to take on Binghamton’s Luc Rennie (0-0, 9.00 ERA) at 6:05 p.m. ET on Thursday.
West Michigan Whitecaps 6, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 4 (box)
Good nights at the plate from Andre Lipcius, Spencer Torkelson, and Bryant Packard powered the ‘Caps on Wednesday night. Packard opened the scoring with a solo shot off the left field foul pole in the second inning, which was quickly followed by another solo shot off the bat of Rey Rivera. Chance Kirby allowed one run in three innings of work, and when West Michigan scored again in the fifth, they looked in control. Andre Lipcius drew a two-out walk, stole second, and scored on a Daniel Cabrera single the opposite way.
Wisconsin came back with single runs in the sixth and seventh, but the Whitecaps had the answer already. Parker Meadows led off the top of the seventh with a triple, and scored on a Torkelson sacrifice fly. Dillon Dingler was hit by a pitch and moved to third on a Lipcius single. Dingler came home on a Cabrera ground out, and the Whitecaps wouldn’t relinquish the lead.
Lipcius had three singles and a walk in this one to lead an 11 hit attack. Torkelson had a pair of singles, as did Corey Joyce.
Coming Up Next: First pitch is set for 7:35 p.m. ET on Thursday night.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 7, Bradenton Marauders 0 (box)
Ted Stuka throttled the Marauders in the this one, racking up nine punchouts in five innings of one-hit ball to earn the victory. The Flygers’ offense got started in the fourth when Wenceel Perez drew a leadoff walk, advanced to third on a balk and a wild pitch, and scored on Nick Quintana’s single up the middle. Quintana later scored Lakeland’s second run after walking to lead off the inning and later scoring on ground ball Bradenton played into an error. They started to break it open in the seventh, as Quintana and catcher Cooper Johnson each came up with an RBI double, and then capped the scoring in the ninth. Kingston Liniak led off the inning with a solo shot, his second, to left center field. Gage Workman walked and Wenceel Perez doubled, with Workman scoring on a throwing error on the play that allowed Perez to take third. Quintana sacrificed him home with a fly ball, and Lakeland had this one in the bag.
Liniak had two hits on the night and stole a base, while Perez doubled, walked twice, and also collected a stolen base. Quintana had the big night with two key hits to rack up three RBI and two runs scored. He also walked in this one.
Coming Up Next: RHP Joseph Salazar (0-0, 0.00 ERA) starts for Lakeland on Thursday night at 6:05 p.m. ET as the series in Bradenton continues through the weekend.